It had been three years since they’d last set eyes on one another. They’d been thrust together in England, and Kiwi Dave had unwittingly assisted the Hardys in solving a particularly difficult case – and saved the brothers’ lives in the process. They were beholden to him, but an opportunity had never arisen to repay the debt.

Frank and Joe had kept in touch with Kiwi via e-mail for a while, but their communications had gradually become less and less frequent, until finally reduced to perhaps one message every six months. Despite this, and despite the intervening years, their friendship was assured; their shared adventure in England guaranteed this, as surely as any signed contract.

"Here, Joe – you got some blood on your chin…sorry." Kiwi said, finally breaking the silence, and pulling a tissue from his pocket

Joe accepted the tissue and pressed it to his mouth. "Thanks. I think I bit my lip when I fell into the boxes."

"Sorry about that, it looks like it’s swelling a bit—

"Stop apologizing, Kiwi," Frank said. "and tell us why in the world you’re here in Bayport!"

Kiwi met Frank’s gaze for a few long seconds; then he gulped and dropped his eyes to his hands before beginning. "It’s a long story…and…and you see I – I—" He stopped, and took a deep cleansing breath. "Sorry, guys, but this is so hard…."

"That’s okay; we’re not going anywhere."

"Okay…right…okay…" Kiwi whispered, and placed his fingers against his temples. Keep it together, Dave, he ordered himself, before allowing his hands to drop, and continuing.

"It was like this. When I was in Australia – I was with Fiona – and she said ‘don’t forget the bill,’ but…but I was embarrassed, and didn’t think – didn’t remember…really, really stupid – she’s nagged me about it so many times in the past – her and Mark – and if I’d only listened to them…and the noise, the shout – I should have gone back to the house…such a damn idiot…such a damn coward…!"

Frank frowned, and glanced over at Joe, whose eyebrows were knitted together in confusion. Their friend was stuttering, stammering, and not making much sense. Granted, he always was a bit tense and excitable, but this was something else! The New Zealander was winding himself up tightly, like a coiled spring.

"—and well, from when I – you see, if it wasn’t for the stupid teddy bear, I would have…but I loved it; Fi bought me that, and I didn’t want to lose it – you can understand that, right, guys?" He looked up brightly, waiting for their support, but they were just as puzzled as before, perhaps even more so. Kiwi finally ground to a halt and slumped back. The Hardys waited.

Suddenly Kiwi erupted with a poignant cry: "God, guys – you wouldn’t believe how great it is to see you!" and burst into tears – great, heaving gulps of emotion, his whole body shuddering.

Stunned, Frank and Joe stared at each other, their mouths hanging open.

"Lord, Kiwi…" Frank murmured. "what on earth?" He just couldn’t fathom what could possibly have driven his friend into this state. He scooted forward, across the floor, and wrapped his arms awkwardly about him. Kiwi didn’t pull away or resist, so Frank tightened his grip, holding him more securely. Joe had risen, and hovered just behind, confusion evident on his face.

"What’s wrong?" Joe demanded, then stopped as Frank locked eyes with him and shook his head, warning him to silence. Chastened, Joe crouched down and began rubbing Kiwi’s back, between his shoulder blades, in what he hoped was a soothing manner, both he and Frank making ‘take it easy, it’s all right’ noises.

They allowed him to cry until the uncontrollable sobs became sniffles. Eventually, Kiwi sat back and dried his eyes on his sleeve. "Sorry guys—" He gulped, and sniffed again. "I dunno what came over me then – what a Wally!"

"A Wally?" Joe said, and laughed.

"Yeah, you know – an idiot." He managed a half grin at Joe’s mirth. "It’s been dodgy on my own, with no one on my side, and no one to talk to….It’s just such a relief to bump into you, maties."

"What are you doing here?" Frank prodded gently, once more.

"I’m trying to clear my name – trying being the operative word. " Kiwi swallowed hard, then continued. "I’ve been accused of murder!"

"What?"

"Murder—? But—"

The Hardys shouted in unison, startling Kiwi into silence.

"You did say murder, right?" Frank repeated, gripping his friend’s elbow in excitement.

Not giving Kiwi a chance to reply, Joe burst into speech. "Were you on a case? Was it strangulation?" He seized Frank’s arm, making their little group a human chain.

"Yes – yes…and yes." Kiwi finally managed to reply, and then turned weary, bloodshot eyes fully on Joe. "How did you know that, dude?"

"Because our dad is in exactly the same situation, that’s how!"

Kiwi pursed his lips in surprise, his eyes widening. "No way!"

"Yes, way!"

"I wondered why you two were following the guy I’ve been after," Kiwi mumbled thoughtfully. "For a time, I thought you were in on it with him – especially when I saw you at the house the first time…and then saw you running away from the house with him, the second night…."

"No," Frank corrected. "We weren’t running away from the house with him, we were running after him."

"I realize that now. I’ll admit, I started to doubt you were in cahoots with him – especially when I doubled back on myself to catch you up, after jumping in the water, and saw you in the woods – oh wow!" Kiwi paused in sudden realization. "That was you lying there, wasn’t it? Are you okay?"

Frank opened his mouth to answer but before he could speak, Joe intervened. "But if you saw Frank hurt, and thought we weren’t in league with the guy, why didn’t you come forward, instead of staying hidden?"

"I figured you might have been bounty hunters, hired to find me." Kiwi admitted. "Remember, I’m a wanted man."

"Oh…" Joe nodded. "That makes sense, I guess. Hey, you were the guy standing in the thunderstorm, staring at us, weren’t you?"

"That’s right!" Kiwi gave a shout of laughter. "There I was, soaked to the skin and freezing my butt off, and all the time it was you two! Every time I saw you guys, I ended up wet through! If that boat hadn’t been moored at the pier – there were some clean clothes aboard that I nicked – I wouldn’t have had any kit left to wear!"

Joe turned to Frank. "I told you there was somebody creepy staring at us!" he gloated.

Frank narrowed his eyes and made a face in response.

" ‘Creepy?’" Kiwi protested mildly, and the Hardys both grinned.

"So that’s how you avoided me after jumping into the water; you climbed into the boat?" Joe asked then.

"Not at first, mate. I actually swam up under the pier, and was looking up through the decking until you moved away – that water was bloomin’ freezing!"

"Why do you think I stopped myself from falling in?" Joe countered, laughing. "I know what Barmet Bay is like in April!"

"You really didn’t recognize us, Kiwi?" Frank asked curiously. "You’ve changed a lot, but we haven’t – not really."

"I probably would have done, if I’d been able to get that photograph developed that I took of Joe outside the house, but I lost the camera when I dived into the water." Kiwi explained. "Besides, you always had hats on, and it was usually dark when I was near you, except the one time at the military store, and in the car….Joe’s got that beard now, so he looks different, and he was the one out of both of you I got the best look at." Ruefully, he rubbed at his own cheek. "I guess I’m a bit beardy now too, eh? I’ve been living rough for a bit."

"I can’t believe we’ve been chasing each other all over town all this time, when we could have been pooling our resources." Frank groaned.

They sat and chuckled a bit at the ridiculousness of it all. Finally, Joe got to his feet. "Tell you what, let’s really pool our resources. It’s starting to get dark – let’s head back to the Bennetts’ and get cleaned up." He touched his swollen lip gingerly, and then felt his temple, where Kiwi had slugged him. "We can probably book Kiwi a room at the bed-and-breakfast, and then go out to get something to eat. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m famished!"

Kiwi’s face colored. "Erm…sorry, but I’m almost skint – I ain’t got a lot of cash left. I’ve been living in the car and in here, the past few days."

"Don’t worry about that," Frank assured him, with a wave of the hand.

"No way are you guys paying for me, I’m no bludger!" Kiwi protested.

"What do you expect us to do – let you starve? It’s what you’d do for us…and besides, what do you think friends are for?" Joe asked.

Kiwi sat and considered his friends’ kind offer. The Hardys were silent, doing nothing further to persuade him one way or another. Finally, shrugging his shoulders while still looking embarrassed, Kiwi got to his feet. "Thanks, guys." he said quietly.

"After that we’ll information-share…." Frank was slower to raise himself from the floor, and he reached an arm out to support himself against his brother’s shoulder.

Joe furrowed his brow and surveyed Frank closely. "Are you okay? Did you take a whack to the head when Kiwi took you down, earlier? I noticed you were kind of out of it for a few seconds."

"I noticed that too, dude." Kiwi concurred. "It really threw me; I didn’t think I’d hit you that hard."

"More than a few seconds, actually." Frank admitted reluctantly. "In fact…I think maybe I should drop by the ER…I think something’s wrong, maybe."

"What do you mean – wrong?" Joe demanded, suddenly alarmed.

"A few times now, I’ve noticed that I get dizzy when I move too fast. I as good as went over, when I ran across to defend you from Kiwi’s attack…and I’ve had this splitting headache, for days now."

"Oh man! Why didn’t you say something earlier?" Joe grabbed Frank’s forearm and elbow, and started hustling him across the warehouse. "Come on, we’re going there right now!"

"Whoa, slow down, Joe!" Frank protested, hanging back and turning his head to look pleadingly at Kiwi, who was obviously enjoying the spectacle. "Let’s get cleaned up first, huh? We look like traffic accident victims; they’d be trying to admit all of us on the spot!"

"He has a point, Joe." Kiwi agreed, grinning.

The younger Hardy stopped, and considered the consequences. "Okay," he said finally, in reluctant agreement. "But as soon as we’ve eaten, we’re going to the hospital. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Let me just get my kit…" Kiwi turned and headed into the office where Joe had seen the sleeping bag. The brothers followed him, and watched as he lit a small camp lantern, then rolled up the sleeping bag, and took a battered backpack from beneath a box. He unzipped it and felt around inside. "Frank – here, I think this belongs to you." Kiwi took out a blue metallic penlight and handed it to the elder Hardy. "I found it in the trees, after you guys had left."

"Thanks," Frank took the little light and slipped it into his pocket, then stopped and looked at his friend expectantly.

Kiwi raised his eyebrows questioningly and shook his head. "What?"

"My car keys…"

"What about them?"

"Can I have them?"

Kiwi glanced back at Joe with a What’s he going on about? look. Comprehension finally dawned. "I didn’t pick up any keys; did you lose those too?" he asked.

Frank nodded his head.

"That’s cruddy!" his friend said sympathetically. "You’ll have to order yourself another set."

"Looks that way – oh, one more thing, Kiwi…"

"What?"

Frank held out his hand, palm up. "My hat." he said pointedly. "I’ve been nice enough to let you borrow it, but now I want it back."

Kiwi grinned. "But I’ve got hat hair!" he protested jokingly, but willingly handed it back. As he swung the backpack onto his shoulder, he suddenly paused and then lifted his hand in a ‘stop’ motion. "Oh, forgot something."

He went to another box and raised the lid, indicating that Frank and Joe should come look inside. "I don’t know whether you remember this, Joe, but this is the stick you were holding in the woods. I had a hunch about it, so swiped it as well."

"Yes, I do remember it. I realized it was missing when we went back to look for Frank’s things. I wondered where it had gone. We assumed it was picked up later by the guy who hit Frank over the head…but we didn’t know why."

"I can tell you why." Kiwi said flatly, and lifting the stick by one end, indicated the other with his finger. "Dark hairs." he said, simply.

The Hardys immediately saw what he was talking about—there were Frank-colored hairs tangled in the rough bark of the branch. Frank grimaced, and his hand went automatically to the back of his head, as if feeling for the lost hair.

"Evidence." Kiwi stated matter-of-factly, and closed the lid down. He switched off the little lantern and put it into his backpack.

"Tell me, Kiwi – was it you who closed the utility room window, after we left it open?" Joe asked him.

"Yep – after having a good scout around inside – but I suppose you two cleaned the place of any leads before I could get there?"

Joe gave him a smug, toothy grin.

When they emerged from the warehouse, the three young men paused a moment on the sidewalk, enjoying the cool, fresh air of the April evening. Kiwi was the first to break the silence.

"My car’s just over yonder; I’ll meet you guys there, okay?"

He trudged off in the direction of the old rusty Buick, and they watched as he climbed in.

"Let’s go!" Joe urged. "We don’t want to live with the humiliation of him getting to the B & B before we do, in that clunker—"

All at once, both Hardys turned as one, staring at each other in sudden shock, mouths hanging open and a dreadful realization sweeping over them.

"The nails!" Joe gasped, and took off after Kiwi at a run, waving his arms madly over his head. Frank followed him as rapidly as he could without setting off another dizzy spell.

Too late – they heard the engine turning over….

By the time they reached Kiwi’s car, their friend was already staring glumly at his vehicle. "Crikey – what happened? All four tires have gone flat!"

"Oh boy…." Joe gulped, and looked to Frank for help. "Umm, Kiwi – um – about the tires…."

"It was his idea!" Frank stated loudly, renouncing all responsibility, and pointed an accusatory finger at Joe.

Joe gasped in shock and turned on Frank, fists on his hips. "Hey! It was not!" he sputtered, momentarily considering fratricide.

Frank smirked at his rattled brother before hastily bending down to scoop up stray nails from the street, leaving Joe to try and explain.

"Kiwi, we’re really sorry – we didn’t know it was you, and we wanted to trap whoever was in the warehouse – damn, we’re sorry, really we are….We’ll get your tires fixed…."

"You put nails in my tires?" Kiwi gazed at the brothers, his brown eyes wide with distress and betrayal. "But – but—"

"We didn’t know it was you," Frank echoed contritely, realizing Kiwi was truly upset.

Their friend turned away, burying his face in his hands. The horrified Hardys watched guiltily as his shoulders started shaking.

"Oh no…Kiwi…." Frank muttered, and stepped forward to place a hand on his shoulder.

It took the Hardys quite a few seconds to realize Kiwi’s shoulders were only shaking because he was laughing. "It’s all hunky dory, guys – it was an old banger anyway. Don’t worry about it." He laughed harder at the looks on their faces. "We can replace the tires cheap, can’t we – if I bother at all?"

"Yes!" Joe blew out a relieved breath. "We’re sorry." he repeated one last time. "Do you have anything in here that you need?"